Julio Rafael Fernández Sánchez (34 ), originally from the town of San Mateo in the state of Aragua (in the north-central region of Venezuela), achieved his dream of reaching the United States with his wife, Carolina Carillo and her 17-year old son in July 2024. Julio has no biological children but he and Carolina have been together for 14 years and he raised her three children as his own.
Julio had already spent six years in Peru, where he managed to acquire three motorcycles. While he worked as a motorcycle taxi driver, he rented the other two vehicles to colleagues.
“We arrived in the United States through the CBP One app. We made the same journey many others do, and when we reached Mexico, we decided to proceed since President Biden had implemented this program where, through the CBP One appointment, we could enter legally and more easily obtain our documents here in the U.S,” said Julio’s wife, Carolina Carillo in an interview.
We waited almost five months working in a taco shop— my husband in the kitchen and I as a waitress — until we got the CBP One appointment on July 18, 2024.
When we showed up for the appointment, it was my 17-year-old son, my husband Julio Fernández, and me. They began interviewing us, like many others there, collecting our documents, fingerprints, and other things. After a while, some officers came looking for my husband because he has a tattoo on his forearm, and he was wearing a long-sleeve shirt. I thought, okay, they’ll check his tattoo — no fear, because we have nothing to hide and are fine with being investigated so we can enter the country.
"But my husband never came back. Officers took him, and hours passed before they told me, 'Welcome to the country, ma’am, with your son.' And I said, 'Wait — what? I didn’t come here alone with my son. I came with my husband. They took him for inspection. Where is he? What happened?'"
"Honestly, they practically told me I had to leave and that my husband would be sent somewhere the next day. My brother-in-law arranged for us to go to Florida. Two days later, my husband called from a correctional center in Florence, Arizona, saying he was being detained and would undergo a credible fear interview."
"So we said, “Okay, let’s wait for that. Hopefully soon you’ll be with us. He then had the credible fear interview, and eight days later, they approved him and gave him a court date for April 17th.”
Despite all this, Julio remained in a detention center. He was told he was being detained because of his tattoos. Carolina settled in to wait for Julio. She enrolled her son in school. They were both sad and worried about Julio but determined to start their life in the US so he would have a place to come when he was released.
In March, 2025 Julio called Carolina “saying he was going to be transferred to Texas, to a detention center in the Valley, and he didn’t know why. We continued hoping, thinking, ‘You’re probably going to wait there for your court date on April 17.’”
“But on Friday March 13, he called very sad — unlike many Venezuelans who were feeling relieved — and told me, ‘I’m really sad because they just told me I’m going to be deported to Venezuela. I don’t know why. I didn’t want to leave you alone — that wasn’t the goal after everything we’ve fought for. I don’t understand why I’m being deported. They didn’t let me prove who I am. They didn’t let me show my documents, my criminal record, or my papers,’ Carolina said.
“And I said, ‘Well, this must be God’s will. May God protect you. I hope things go well.’ And then I didn’t hear from my husband again. Until I started seeing in the news on Sunday what was happening in El Salvador.”
“I thought, “What’s going on?” No plane had landed in Venezuela. I started to worry. Then [on March 20] the list was published. That’s when I confirmed that, yes, my husband is detained in El Salvador.”
Carolina worries greatly about Julio’s safety in the Salvadoran torture prison, CECOT. “He is a hardworking, innocent man and there are terrorists there,” she said.
“My 17-year-old son, who is here, is not doing well at all,” Carolina said. He won’t leave his room. He’s been crying. Julio is more than a stepfather — he’s his father. He’s raised him since he was about eight years old. He says, ‘Mom, if Julio gets sent back to Venezuela, I want to go too. We’ll go together.’”
“Julio has always been the head of our household. He guided us on our journey. We’ve always depended on him — not financially, because I’ve always worked with him — but in terms of leadership, guidance, and support for the family. He took care of everything for the kids, even taking them to school. Our relationship has always been healthy and strong, and I can truly vouch for him as a good, honest, and hardworking man.”
“I have a lot of faith that this will be resolved. I can’t believe that someone innocent, with no crimes, would spend years in a place like that. I say justice must be served. The authorities must get involved. Even the worst criminals — and I’m sure Julio would say this too — even the worst criminals have the right to have their cases reviewed, to defend themselves, to plead guilty or not. So how much more so should he — who is innocent — have the right to have his case reviewed, to prove his innocence. I can’t imagine him spending years there,” Carolina added.